By Your Side.
Overcoming the ‘fear of the new’ in digital banking.
As more and more services digitise, people who are less tech-savvy are getting left behind.
Everyday services are transforming, calling on new ways to carry out something that was once familiar and trusted. The banking sector has evolved significantly over the last decade.
Bank branches have been rapidly closing and cash is becoming a thing of the past. Banks and building societies have closed 5,791 branches in the UK since January 2015, at a rate of around 54 each month*. Yet, a segment of the ageing population are not embracing the convenience and protection we all enjoy from digital banking.
“Only 14% of the 85+ age group bank online, with 58% relying on face-to-face banking.”
“You can’t bank on it anymore” The impact of the rise of online banking on older people, Age UK Report, May 2023
At Studio Every, we explored the idea of ‘overcoming the hurdle’ to online banking.
To be clear, we’re not challenging the efforts of digital design to deliver an easy-to-use banking app. We’re considering the step before that in the journey and how to alleviate the fear of the new. We are constantly adopting and trusting new technologies that can challenge those who have been less reliant on technology throughout their life.
The Idea.
‘By Your Side’, step-by-step support to getting familiar with app banking.
We brought together guidance in a printed format, alongside the real-time digital experience - with the aim to demystify digital money management and make getting started a less fearful experience.
Key principles considered.
Our considerations around the idea focussed around the following key principles.
Reduce the fear of the new. Make the step into a new world as seamless as possible.
Keep it simple. Keeping information to a bare minimum to focus on the essentials.
Familiarity at your pace. Introducing a new step with a familiar format at a pace that you choose to follow.
Depicting an idea.
Our depiction is a demonstration of how By Your Side could manifest.
Something simple to orientate people around the idea and thinking, rather than detailed design execution. This of course could be explored in depth and detail. This creates the ‘space to play’ -boundaries in which to flex creativity.
*Which? Bank branch closures: is your local bank closing? Dec 2023
